Rail puller



L. o. HYVARI Sept. 8, 1953 RAIL PULLER 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. 9, .1951

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RAIL FULLER .Filed Jan. 9, 1951 2 sheets-:sheet` 2 ,p as les 1/7 fl\llllll//llll/, Illl [am im 5f? l HL IVENTOR. az/rl' Hyyarz" ATTDRN EYE Patented Sept. 8, 17953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RAIL PULLER Lauri O. Hyvari, Orr, Minn. Application January 9, 1951, Serial N o. 205,209

2 Claims. (Cl. 254--43) This invention relates to devices used on railroads particularly by a repair crew and where rails have separated at the joints, and in particular this invention relates to a ratchet actuated clamp device having rail gripping elements car'- ried by pivotally mounting levers with the rail gripping elements positioned to be placed over the heads of rails on opposite sides of a joint and with extended ends of the levers positioned to be drawn together by a ratchet for forcing the ends oi the rails into engagement.

The purpose of this invention is to provide a manually actuated device for drawing ends of rails together that may be applied to rails without bolts, or other positive attaching means and that may readily be removed and carried from one position to another.

Various devices have been provided for drawing ends of rails together particularly with levers clamped to the rails but devices of this type used heretofore are not only troublesome and difcult to mount on the rails but require excessive force to operate. With this thought in mind this invention contemplates a ratchet actuated clamping device that can be set up in a comparatively few minutes and that multiplies the force applied to the gripping elements so that considerable force is applied to the rails with comparatively little eiort.

The object of this invention is, therefore, to provide means for constructing a lever actuated device for drawing ends of rails together whereby lthe device may readily be positioned upon meeting ends of rails and operated without positive connections to the rails.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for drawing ends of rails together which may readily be carried from one position to another.

A further object of the invention is to provide a manually actuated deviceY for drawing ends of rails together which is of a simple and economical construction.

With these and other objects and advantages in view the invention embodies a pair of levers pivotally mounted on a connecting frame with U- shape gripping elements pivotally connected to and extended from sides of the levers and with the free ends of the levers connected by a manually actuated ratchet whereby with the gripping elements positioned over the heads of rails the rails are drawn together by actuating the ratchet.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the drawings wherein:

2 Figure l is a plan view of the improved rail puller illustrating the parts in operative positions and positioned upon adjoining ends of rails.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view showing the device with the parts inthe positions shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an end elevational view also showing the rail puller with the parts in the positions as illustrated in Figure 1, and with the angle on the near side of the follower removed.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal section through one of the levers of the rail puller being taken on line fl-i of Figure l.

Figure 5 is a cross section taken on line 5--5 of Figure 1 showing the frame to which the levers are pivotally connected.

Figure 6 is a sectionalplan taken on line 6 6 of vIil'igure 3 showing the ratchet pawl mounting parts.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts the improved rail puller of this invention includes levers It and II, rail gripping jaws I2 and I3, a U-shape mounting frame I4, in which the levers are pivotally mountedby pins I5 and I6, a ratchet bar Il pivotally connected to the extended ends of the levers, an actuating pawl I8, a locking pawl i6, a ratchet handle 20, a support 2|, and a spring 22. Y

VThe'levers I6 and II are shown as illustrated in Figures 1 and 4 with the inner ends thereof pivotally mounted by the pins I5 and I6 between an upper arm 23 and the lower arm 24 of the frame I4. Y

The lever I6 is provided with a bracket 25, the inner end of which is mounted on the pin I5 through a ilange 26 that is positioned below the head 2l o-f the pin and the outer end of the bracket is provided with a flange 28 through which the end of the bracket is secured to the lever by screws 29. The ilan'ge 26 is also provided with locating grooves 30 and 3|. The lever II is also provided with a bracket 32, sirn- -,ilar to the bracket 25 and a ilange 33 on the inner end is positioned under the head 34 of the pin I6. A ange 35 on the outer end is also secured to the lever by screws 36.

The gripping jaws I2 and I3 are of U-shape in cross section, as shown in Figures 1 and Z and the jaw I2 is provided with a hub 31 by which it is pivotally connected to the outer end of a link 38 by a pin 39. The inner end of the link is pivotally connected to the lever I0 by a pin 40 which extends through the ratchet '25 and lever.

The jaw i3 is provided with a similar hub 4i through which the jaw is pivotally connected to a link V42 by a pin 43 and the inner end of the link 42 is pvotally connected to the lever Il by a pin 44 which extends through the bracket 32 and also through the lever, as shown in Figure 4.

The pins connecting the levers, jaws and mounting elements. are provided with cotter pins 45.

The frame i4 is provided with a handle 45, the ends of which are secured to the upper arm., 23 of the frame by screws 41 and 48.

The levers i and l I lare resiliently urged apart by the spring 22, one end of which bears .against the inner surface of the lever I I, andthe op*- posite end of which is held in an. opening 49 m the lever I0. The spring is provided with a coil 50 that is positioned against the inner surface of the lever i0, as shown in Figure l.

The ratchet bar H is provided with a pin 5i which extends through an openingl 52. in the., outer end of the lever il. and, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 4, a washer 53 on the pin -5=.I is positioned between the bar irl and upper surface of the lever.

The ratchet bar l1 kextends through a follower 54, that. is pivotally mounted in an opening 55 in the outer end of the lever Hl by a pin 56 and, as illustrated in Figure 6, clip angles 5'! and 58 secured to the base of the follower 54 by screws 5S. and 6k provide mounting means for the actuating and vlocking pawls I8 and i9.v The. paivl |8 is pivotally mounted on a pin SI and the, pawl or dog t9Y isl pivotally mounted on a pin E2, the pins being mounted in the vertically disposed legs of the clip angles 51 and 5B.

A socket 53, which is connected to the pawl I8 by a pin 64 extends upwardly and is positioned to receive the handle 2U, as shown in Figure The pin 5G: byy which the follower 54 is pivotallyconnected to.4 the end of la lever i0-, also extends through a plate 65 forming the upper end of the U-shape. support 2:| and vertically disposed sections of' the support are provided with flanges E6 andY vtf1 which rest. upon railroad ties 63.

With the parts arranged in this manner the rail gripping jaws. lf2 and I3` are positioned over the heads of rails, as indicated by the numerals 159.V and 1,0 and as the pawl is actuated by the handle 2U the ratchet bar l1 is drawn through the follower so that the ends of the levers are drawn together :and with the jaws l2, and I?,4 rmly gripping the rails the ends of the rails are, consequently, drawn into meeting relation.

The parts of the rail puller of this invention are of comparatively light weight so that the device may readily be carriedby the handle 4 6.

After the ends of rails aredrawn together bythe rail puller the rails are secured by sh plates and after the railsY are, bolted together the ratchet is released'by tapping the upper end of the dog or pawl I9.

4 It will be understood that modifications may be made in the Idesign and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. In a railroad rail puller, the combination which comprises a mounting frame, a pair of levers pivotally mounted through one of the ends, thereof. to the said. mounting irame, links pivotalliy connected ta the said .levers and extended from the sides thereof, a reinforcing bracket for each lever, one end of each bracket being secured to its respective lever and each bracket extending toward the pivotally mounted end of each lever to be connected by the pivot to the lever and the pivot of the link with its respectiva lever-extending through the respective bracket, inverted U-shape rail vgripping jaws pilvotalilyn attached to the extended ends of the links, a ratchet bar extended across the extended ends of the levers.- with one end of the bar pitre-tally connected toone of the said levers, a follower pivotal'lyl connected to ther extended end of the other lever and positioned with the ratchet bar extended therethrough, ratchet. actua-ting pawls pivotally mounted in said follower and positioned to engage. teeth of the ratchet bar, andv a support. positioned under the extended ends-of one of the said levers.

2A In a railroad rail puller,` the combination which comprises a mounting, frame, a pair of levers pivotally mounted through. one of the ends tl-iereor to the said mounting frame,v links Divotally connected to the, said levers and extended from. the. sides thereof,l inverted U-shape rail gripping jaws pivotally attached' to the extended ends of the links, Aa ratchet bar extended, across. the, extended ends.. of the levers with one end of the bar pivotally connected to one of Vthe said levers, a. follower pivotally connected to. the extended end of the other lever and positioned with the. ratchet. bar extended therethrough, ratchet actuating pawls pivot-ally mounted in said follower and positioned to engage teeth of the, ratchet, bar, a spring pivotally attached to. one of the. said levers and positioned tov eng-age the other lever for resiliently urging the. levers. apart, anda support positioned under the extended end of 'one of the said levers.

LAURI O. HYVARI.

References Cited' in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 615,102 Penrose Nov. 29, 18.98 1,373,598. Car-man Apr. 5, 1921 1,617,539` Newman Feb.. 15, 19.27 2,311,063 `ltdartin.. Feb. 16, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 5,846; Denmark July 2.7, 1903 29,066 Denmark Dec. 27, 1921 

